Is it only in Germany (prolly not) or are gold buyers flooding the ad space in your newspapers etc., too?There have always been people advertising that they're buying gold, but only recently (well, since gold prices are so high actually) they're really getting annoying.What annoys me most, though, is not that they advertise, but that the way they advertise always makes me think they can't be honest. Seriously, a lot of them go along the lines of "You have spare gold? We'll take it for you and even give you some money for it." And I heard from two people who went to different of these gold buyers that what they offer in exchange is not always reflecting the gold price but is many percent below it. It's even worse than scrap metal collectors, who offer to dispose of those copper pipes you've got lying around for only a small fee.

On with their heads! I'm the clown prince of foolsif you don't get the joke it's your lossLove and laughter you see are the new currency'cause greed's coinage is not worth a toss

They manage to make it sound like gold is some sort of biohazard and that they are doing a public service by taking it off your hands. The amount of advertising these people do makes you think that they are not giving anywhere close to the actual scrap value of gold.

I'd love to see an Ankh-Morpork take on this.

“Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.” – Blaise Pascal

Oh, the goldbuyers won't give you anywhere near the actual market price of the gold.

For the past few years, the price of gold has been skyrocketing, mainly because investors are investing in it as a defense against the crumbling stock markets, as well as increased demand for jewelry in India and China. Since production of new gold isn't keeping up with demand, a huge share of the demand for gold is coming from scrap gold, since gold can easily be recycled. Hence, all the ads from these kinds of shysters over the past few years. Given that the whole world economy seems to be crumbling, you get a lot of financially strapped people selling grandma's gold jewelry.